Celebrating Progress and Charting a Path Forward
Our Legislative Spotlight has a new name:
Shaping Policy That Heals– because real change starts with bold ideas and vision. At iCARE, we’re not just following policy—we are working to shape it, so every child and family has the support they need to heal, belong, and thrive.
Celebrating Progress and Charting a Path Forward: Adoption and Foster Care Insights from the Let It Be Us Symposium
Last month, I was honored to take part in the Let It Be Us Adoption Symposium: The Future of Adoption as a Form of Permanency in Illinois. It was an inspiring day filled with passionate voices, innovative ideas, and a collective commitment to making a difference for adoptive, foster, and kinship families. I was honored to join a panel discussion alongside Susan McConnell, Founder and Exec. Director for Let It Be Us, Heidi Mueller, Director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), and Dr. Margaret Scotellaro, Medical Director of DCFS.
Together, we joined forces with leaders in education and child welfare to tackle the pressing challenges facing our communities while envisioning bold, transformative solutions. The atmosphere was filled with enthusiasm and determination, reflecting a shared vision of a future where every child and family feels supported, understood, and empowered.
The following were my responses to the four panel questions.
How have you seen adoption through foster care improve over the last ten years?
Where do you see the biggest need for improvement now?
What is your fairy tale wish list?
How do we get there? How can the people in this room help us reach that point?
Here are my answers…
1. A Decade of Progress
Over the past ten years, adoption through foster care has seen remarkable growth and evolution. One of the most encouraging developments is the growing recognition that adoption is not a one-time event but a lifelong journey. Mental health awareness has also expanded, with more professionals acknowledging the need for adoption- and trauma-informed care.
We’ve seen a stronger commitment to family preservation, keeping siblings together, prioritizing kinship placements, and honoring cultural identity. Encouragingly, youth voices are now shaping policy and practice in meaningful ways, and we’ve seen expanded financial and transitional supports for youth aging out of care.
These changes matter deeply—but they are only the beginning. For families formed through adoption, especially after foster care, healing doesn’t stop at finalization. That’s where the next phase of the work begins.
2. Opportunities for Improvement
Despite real progress, too many families still find themselves navigating the “messy middle” alone—the period after adoption finalization when the honeymoon phase fades, trust is still forming, and support systems often fall away. Divorce, burnout, and sibling conflict can emerge, and without proper guidance, even the most committed families can struggle.
We need to normalize lifelong support for adoptive, foster, and kinship families, especially through adolescence and young adulthood. These families need shepherding. Children who’ve survived early adversity are often hardwired not to trust—they’ve learned to rely on themselves, not caregivers. What served them in survival doesn’t serve them in stable homes. And the process of unlearning those coping skills takes time, patience, and consistent, informed support.
Schools must be part of this support network. What happens in the classroom deeply impacts a child’s ability to regulate, connect, and thrive at home. Yet most school professionals have not been trained in how relational trauma shapes a child’s behavior, learning, and ability to attach.
Without this understanding, even well-intended responses can erode fragile family bonds—reinforcing maladaptive coping strategies and sending the message, however unintentionally, that these children don’t belong.
3. Dreaming Big: A Fairy Tale Wish List
What if every adoptive, foster, and kinship family had access to a built-in circle of support?
Schools that recognize how a child’s family history and early trauma influence behavior, emotional regulation, and learning.
Mental health frameworks that are flexible, collaborative, and family-centered—not rigid systems that isolate children from their caregivers.
Policies across education, healthcare, and child welfare that align with evidence-based best practices and reinforce the core value of permanency.
Access to adoption-competent educators, clinicians, peers, and mentors—people who understand that healing is a lifelong journey, and that support shouldn’t have to be earned.
4. Turning Vision into Reality
Transforming vision into reality means taking bold, collaborative steps that strengthen families and empower the professionals who support them. Together, we can:
Champion adoption-competent training for educators, supported by ISBE guidance and funding, so every school is equipped to understand and support children with complex beginnings.
Require a School Liaison at Child Family Team Meetings (CFTMs) and continue CFTMs post-adoption to keep caregivers, schools, and clinicians aligned—ensuring families strengthened.
Expand access to iCARE’s Connection Kits™ and professional development training for educators, especially in under-resourced schools, so all children can feel safe, seen, and supported.
Modernize the Illinois Mental Health Code to reflect best practices for adoptive, foster and kinship families that prioritize connection, family partnership, and healing in school settings.
